It's a fact of life in college volleyball.

And on the surface, it appears unfair that 16 teams, including the University of Wisconsin, will start the NCAA tournament Friday night on their home court, and that four teams  — UW, Stanford, Penn State and Florida — have a chance to play at home all the way to the Final Four.

But when you take a closer look, it's clear the NCAA is slotting these teams at home in hopes better-attended matches will increase the exposure and appeal of the sport.

Even the coaches who have to made the trip to the UW Field House understand it.

"Obviously, it's a pretty tough draw when you look at things," said Northern Iowa coach Bobbi Petersen, whose Panthers (22-10) will play the eighth-ranked Badgers (25-4) in a first-round match at 7 p.m. "But (the Field House) is a great place for us. It's an opportunity for us to have fans here. We feel very comfortable because ... there are awesome fans here and we like to be a part of that."

The Badgers, annually one of the top-drawing schools in Division I women's volleyball, are playing host to first- and second-round matches for the fourth straight season. Next weekend, an NCAA regional will be played at the Field House, too.

The Badgers averaged a school-record 5,425 fans per match this season, second only to Hawaii (6,070). Traditionally, crowds at NCAA matches at the Field House have been smaller than the season average because tickets are more expensive. However, tonight's attendance should be around 3,000, with a larger crowd expected Saturday night if UW advances.

But even as the sport's popularity grows, the NCAA isn't ready to run a tournament that relies on neutral sites.

"They realized they want some good attendance, so when (people) watch it on TV it's an exciting thing for ... the nation to see," UW coach Pete Waite said. "(Poor attendance is) not a good situation for the fans or the teams, because it's not an energized situation so you can play at the top of your game. So (the NCAA is) starting to select schools that are really doing well in attendance to make it even better."

The Badgers are among that select few. Of the 16 schools playing host to the first two rounds, eight are among the top 25 in attendance. Next weekend's regionals will be played at Penn State (fifth in the nation), Florida (sixth) and Stanford (11th), in addition to the Field House.

"(Neutral sites) would be nice, absolutely, to get fan support in a few large cities," said San Diego coach Jennifer Petrie, whose 16th-ranked Toreros (21-7) will play Iowa State (17-13) at 5 p.m. "But, honestly, at this point, we're thrilled to be in a place that appreciates volleyball and has great fan support. These type of fans enjoy watching good volleyball and find it exciting."

It hardly seems to matter to the players, especially if a home-court site is going to put fans in the seats.

"A crowd's a crowd and it's really fun to feed off that energy, regardless of who they are cheering for," Northern Iowa senior setter Kristin Belzung said.

The Badgers have been there, too.

"Even when we were at Penn State, there were a ton of people there and you definitely feed off that," UW setter Jackie Simpson said.

"The thing we try to focus on when we're the away team is trying to silence the crowd. You can play with the game in that sense, too. But we're excited when we go on a court and see a lot of people there because that shows a lot of respect for the game."

Coaches understand the system. Regional sites are set up ahead of time. But the sites of the first two rounds are at the discretion of the NCAA selection committee, and if a team plays well through the season, it can earn that bonus.

"You get seeded and home-court advantage for a reason, so if you do your job all year long, you get rewarded for that," said Petersen, whose Panthers ranked 13th in the country in attendance.

So the more-the-merrier attitude is likely here for a while.

"The more fans come out and have fun, they'll come back, and that's what we want to see," Simpson said, "whether it's here at Wisconsin or another school."